Proportion
I almost did not re-post this strip after the site was nuked by the affect of the WordPress hack on Jan 30th, 2010. It was our only controversial strip to date.
No, this strip was not inspired by any Family Guy or Robot Chicken sketch that may appear similar. I have not even seen the gag that this strip has been accused of ripping off. Just rest assured that while our strips are obviously influenced by popular culture, we do not steal jokes. I’m only raising this point because (before this site was hacked) we received some accusations of gag stealing from one reader, followed up by his buddies having a go at us and our supportive readers.
Galactic Binder, the biggest Star Wars directory in the world, is now listing Blue Milk Special. If you are unfamiliar with the Galactic Binder, it collects listings of Star Wars sites and fan creations under various categories. I recommend you check out the site for the many gems by fellow creative fans and be the first to see the latest Star Wars internet sensations.
One of the sites you will find on the Galactic Binder is
Star Wars: Age 9. Created by John White, the attractively designed site collects all of the Star Wars comics that he illustrated between 1977 and c.1982 while he was 9 years old. What makes the site so entertaining is John’s present day commentary on these old drawings that he rediscovered. I thoroughly recommend checking it out.
Vote for Blue Milk Special on TopWebComics!
To start reading Blue Milk Special from the beginning click here.
I just wanted to say that I wrote about the Robot Chicken in an earlier post but I meant it as a contribution. I don’t think you guys steal jokes. Actually it seems like such an obvious joke that I am surprised that I haven’t heard it mentioned more often.
Of course you didn’t steal this joke from Robot Chicken, if you had, this strip would have been funny seeing as how this exact joke that RC did first is hilarious.
You know, we get accused of this now and then and it really really pisses me off. I haven’t watched the RC SW specials for this very reason. A while back, someone like yourself who is quick to make assumptions and attack, accused us of ripping a joke from the Family Guy A New Hope special. As it happened, both Family Guy and ourselves were working from the same source material that half a billion other comedian and cartoonists have had to work from since the Original Trilogy first came out. Coincidences happen among parodies working from the same material. It’s a given. But if it has occurred it was not intentional.
I could have just deleted your comment, but if I did that, wouldn’t it just confirm in your mind that Leanne and I have nothing better to do than rip off other people’s parodies? I want people to know and to realize that we don’t consciously steal, and certainly in this case did not as I haven’t even seen the special. I think it sucks though, that we have to get leaped upon like this now and then by aggressive people out there that always assume the worst of anybody. No, we did not steal this gag. I don’t even know what the RC version was like. Frankly I’m so sick of being treated like we steal from RC or Family Guy (remember, I wrote the majority of these strips back in December 2009, well in advance of publishing them) that I decided a long time ago to not even watch Robot Chicken or Family Guy.
Also, I don’t give a shit who did what first. If I had known someone else had done the SAME gag, I wouldn’t have gone ahead with it. Aside from the fact I morally wouldn’t do that, the last thing I would want to put up with is people like yourself jumping down our throats, therefore I just wouldn’t do it. BMS tries pretty damn hard to be original and find new spins on a very thoroughly parodied franchise already. I think we actually do pretty okay considering. We also do this shit for free. We don’t have a network budget. If you don’t want to like BMS then just stick with your RC and Family Guy. Those guys get paid to make their parodies and I bet they inadvertantly use gags done elsewhere too.
@Itissimple, I can say with certainty that you did not rip off the “ironically-brush-off-accusations-of-plagiarism-by-disparagingly-comparing-the-accused-to-the-material-from-which-the-accused-allegedly-plagiarized” formula you’re using in your comment from the nearly infinite number of other commentators who’ve used it before you, because if you had, it might have been funny.
Well, now that we’ve cleared that all up; we can get back to enjoying this fine genocide joke!
HaHAA!!! I’m a sick Ba***rd!
Thanks, Rod. And I sympathise. If you DID want to rip off ideas as part of your global domination publishing strategy you could probably find thousands of lower profile parodies scattered across the web that would go undetected. But because:
A) You make no money from this
B) You have an excess of ideas of your own
C) You are creative people who would find no satisfaction in giving up your limited free time to simply ‘copy’
I can’t see you bothering. Incidentally: Does your site now have a backup system?
If I inadvertently ripped off any gags in MY comic, it’d be via wormhole or something. Child prodigy indeed!
Thanks John. When I originally responded to this message the other day, I couldn’t see which strip it was in reference too and I thought we were being called out for some other proposed instance of plagiarism. As it turned out, when I gave others the link, I realized it was for the same old strip that had stirred up haters a long time ago. As far as I know, this is the only strip where one of our gags closely parallels one from Family Guy or Robot Chicken. I thought it was Family Guy, not Robot Chicken however. In any case, thanks for the support. Looks like it was just another one of those “hit and run” haters.
You’re welcome folks. I’d love you to get the ‘thumbs up’ from George. Maybe the next ‘Celebration’ will be your chance.
Trust me, we’re not seeking it. As delightful as that would be, I highly doubt we’re worth giving a nod to. Low profile.
He still hasn’t called me with a job offer either. I think he feels intimidated. Butterlies in the tummy every time he reaches for the phone. It’s ok George, I’m just an ordinary guy like you.
More probably a troll…As a sub-species of haters, it’s best to not feed them. They eat Attention. For breakfast, they might websurf a little to find new updates wherever they can & spend hours during the day to formulate their own contradictions to post up, spend their lunchtimes by showing off their limited intellects & waste suppertime by hitting numerous websites to find some scraps they can wheedle out of unsuspecting people. Their most likely victims are the thin-skinned.
I too made some jokes in my life, I later found out to have existed before…
Who cares?
Anyone who does so either has to much time or is a real nutjob.
I know it’s simpler said then done, but you really shouldn’t let this kind of insignificant blabber bother you.
Instead, maybe you should be proud that you can help some trolls release stress, that might have send them into an early grave, by spouting bullshit nobody else gives any damn *&% about.
You could be a life saver, that is something! (though a saver of worthless life…)
My opinion: even if this gag HAD been ripped off, there’s enough new material in the strip to forgive one case of borrowing. (Which I doubt was the case, anyway.)
Ever since One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, any time a robot nurse is involved, they’re called Nurse Ratchet. Lightsaber=penis jokes are in every Star Wars parody EVER.
If you want my opinion– and honestly, who doesn’t?– I love the strip. You’ve made me laugh out loud several times, and I’ll give you my Episode I collector’s edition VHS tape (with 6″ of actual tape from the movie!) if you will PLEASE make a tee shirt of Vader with coffee cup and the Han Solo dance number picture from Mos Eisley.
So keep up the great work. (Since I’m writing this two years after the original controversy, I know you will) I love what you’ve done with the place!
Totally agree with Chris your comics are hilarious! I love them, and they’re helping me kill 12 hour shifts of nothing. Like I said, totally agree with Chris, those t-shirts would be freaking amazing! And if that’s not possible, I’d totally settle for an amazing image emailed my way so I could get one made… And definitely put the site on there, or another image with site name for the back! I’d pay to get it made and promote your free entertainment! (Mostly cause this is so good I’d pay to see it! …no ideas now!) Anyways, I started from the beginning so I’ve got so more reading to do… Ciao!
I said ‘totally’ far to many times…
I know this has been said before (too lazy to read all comments) but the concept here (as well as many other Star Wars jokes) is simple enough almost anyone could draw that conclusion independently.
So you made a similar joke to someone else. It’s not like you invented the light bulb on your own after some douchebag already patented it.
Btw, found out about this strip from ads and the cool-ass milk carton thing I stole from Annapolis Comic Con. And now I’m hooked :). This is easily on par with the top Star Wars fanfic/parodies out there, including my previous personal fave: Darths & Droids.